tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-296717862024-03-13T08:45:18.293-07:00Cheryl's life at the farmCherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-43586221028204789202009-04-29T11:49:00.000-07:002009-04-29T12:03:22.689-07:00I cannot believe how long it's been since I've posted on here! I swear I am going to get better about it. For now, I need to catch up. <br /><br />Like I said in my last post in September Pat was on strike and he remained on strike a long, long time.... Ok, maybe 10 weeks or something but it seemed like forever. With the economy going in the toilet during that time I really was scared that the strike would go on forever. I was so depressed about it all that I barely emailed, let alone post on my blog. <br /><br />In October my son Shane went to Iraq. He's gotten through 6 months now and is supposed to only be there for 6 more. In December it started snowing around the 18th, maybe earlier, I don't even remember but it lasted forever!!! I think it snowed every day for 4 months, I'm sure it couldn't have been that bad but we did have snow here for that long. I was so happy when I saw that last little pile of snow go away. For the first time since we moved here 7 years ago I have thought about actually moving for the last few months, not too far, just into town but away from the cold, long winters at my house. If it wasn't for Pat I'd probably do it too. I used to say I'd live here until I die and then have my ashes strewn around our property but not anymore. Hopefully we'll have a really nice warm Spring and Summer to make up for it and I'll forget about this moving nonsense. Right now it's almost May 1st and I'm sitting here typing this with my baseboard heat on next to me, my layer shirt on under my zipped up down coat... I'm serious! I felt bad for complaining last week because I saw that it was supposed to be 100 degrees in Baghdad, not far from where my son is stationed. I'll take cold weather any day over hot weather.<br /><br />Right now I have to get ready to go to Tim's school conference so I'll get ready but I'll post more of what's been going on soon, maybe today and I'll post pictures too.....Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-27704014822676392542008-09-15T10:07:00.000-07:002008-09-15T10:22:45.941-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/SM6Xu3GmlbI/AAAAAAAAAII/E028SaU1V3U/s1600-h/IMG_0002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/SM6Xu3GmlbI/AAAAAAAAAII/E028SaU1V3U/s320/IMG_0002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246297447254627762" border="0" /></a><br />The weather this month has been so perfect, hate to see it end! It gets pretty cold and rainy here in the winter. I'm determined that I will bundle up and get outside instead of staying in the house so much this winter. We have a couple days left of warm weather then some not-so-warm so I'll try and do some work in the yard and on the house outside. Pat's on strike with Boeing but is still over in the Puget Sound area doing some work on our trailer, etc. I've gone over there for the past 4 weekends. One of those weekends he redid my brakes on my car, something that was long overdue. Last weekend I had a blow-out on my car as you see from the picture here. In all my years of driving I don't think I've had a flat and never bothered to learn to change one. Luckily Pat said he would come there and change it, it was 11:30 at night on a dark highway about half-way between here and Seattle. A state patrol officer stopped to check on me and said he'd help me fix it but Pat was on his way. I was shocked when I got out of the car to look at it, could have turned out so much worse.<br /><br />Last week it was my birthday and also my mom's and one of my sisters. Thankfully I don't feel any older than I already feel. I was making a quilt for my mom but didn't quite get it done by her birthday. Luckily I had bought her a set of cd's that she and dad liked. It's hard to stay inside and work on sewing when the weather is so nice. I've been doing alot of weeding and mowing outside and my blueberries are finally ripe enough to start picking them. Now that I'm thinking of it I'd better get out there and pick the ripe ones and also check the apple trees before the deer come by and start raiding them like they do.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-68376739107716751672008-08-29T08:59:00.000-07:002008-08-29T09:31:51.459-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/SLgdcOL-LnI/AAAAAAAAAHo/XQSfRXf9Wyc/s1600-h/100_0766.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/SLgdcOL-LnI/AAAAAAAAAHo/XQSfRXf9Wyc/s320/100_0766.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239970537127423602" border="0" /></a>It's been awhile again since I posted. I put a new picture of the house on here with it's new roof!! I thought it would never happen but we finally got it. The old shake roof was 30+ years old and had bats living under the shakes and I hate bats!! We had to get new skylights too but it was worth it in the end. We got opening skylights in the bedroom and upstairs bathroom which is nice when it's hot out but it never seems to get hot out here. This summer and last summer had very few hot days. I'm so glad I picked the 2 guys that ended up doing our roof. They are so nice and easy going and we ended up having them do other things too, like the lattice under the porches and deck, and doing some wiring in the garage, installed a "new" door in the garage (one I got for free a couple years ago) and put in a new window in the garage. We're going to have them do more but we're taking a break from it until we see if Pat goes on strike next week.<br /><br />Mom is doing better so that's sure good. Her birthday is coming up soon, September 10th she'll be 83! I really need to finish this quilt I started last Fall for her. When she was in the nursing home last Fall she was talking about how much she loves the Fall colors and I decided then to give her this quilt. This picture of the unfinished quilt doesn't show the richness of the colors but you get the idea. It's also very, very soft with all flannels. I just need to finish tying it and do the binding and then I'll be done. I guess I'll end this posting here for now. I have so much to do today. Pat hasn't been home in weeks and I think he'll be coming home tonight or soon. He's going to do my brakes today. I left my car over there and brought his home a few days ago. My brakes were so bad I just couldn't drive it anymore. The rotor on the front drivers side had deep grooves in it. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/SLgiJk8MTVI/AAAAAAAAAHw/D1IZi1O3ciM/s1600-h/100_0770.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/SLgiJk8MTVI/AAAAAAAAAHw/D1IZi1O3ciM/s320/100_0770.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239975714375880018" border="0" /></a>Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-20429124435758766162008-02-21T19:01:00.000-08:002008-02-21T19:43:12.061-08:00Wow, it's been about 8 months since I've posted. So much has happened in that time and I doubt I'll remember it all.<br /><br />The highlights are that my in-laws flew out here the first part of September and we went up to this resort in Canada where Pat and I spent our honeymoon almost 19 years ago. It's called Tigh-na-mara. We stayed in a log cabin and it was pretty cool. The bad thing was that by the time we got up there it was late evening, time for bed and we had to check out the next day in time to make the long drive back to Victoria, B.C. to catch our ferry. All in all we had lots of fun. I have pictures on here somewhere, will post when I find them.<br /><br />In October my Mom had sort of a breakdown, I guess you'd call it, and ended up having to go into a nursing home but the good news is that she was much better by Christmas and Dad was able to bring her home to enjoy Christmas with him and stay there. According to Dad she's doing fine and she's seemed fine when I've seen her. It was all a very scary, very stressful time for all of us but I'm thankful that she's ok now. She went to a geriatric hospital for a couple weeks before the nursing home and it was so, so hard to see her like that. She kept begging me to get her out of there and there was nothing I could do.<br /><br />Very soon after all this started with my Mom I found out that my ex-mother-in-law had cancer and it was pretty bad. Her husband took it very hard and within a couple days he had a heart attack and died. My son Shane, who's in the Army in Georgia, flew home for the funeral. It was sure nice to spend some time with him, I miss him so much! He got to spend some time with his grandma which was good because she died soon after too, about 3 weeks after her husband. They were such good, loving people and were so good to me when I married their son when we were 17.<br /><br />I had what I had thought would be minor surgery for a cyst in November and had a really hard time getting better from that until the first part of January. Now here it is February and time is flying along. During all of January we had snow and ice the whole month but recently it's actually been fairly decent out although I saw that our neighbor still has some snow at his place where it had been kind of piled up. I saw buds on a flowering cherry tree this afternoon which gives me hope that it will be warmer soon. 2007 was the rainiest, coldest year we've had here, even all summer long. We had about 5 days of really nice weather around the 4th of July and that was it. Even my chickens seem to be happier lately since it's been getting nicer out.<br /><br />I've been working on putting energy seal between the logs inside the house during the cold months and did some on the outside along with staining, etc when it was somewhat warm still during Fall. I've also been sanding the inside logs, and probably will still be working on that when I'm 80, very slow going. <br /><br />I have to pick up Tim from a sports awards program at school but I will post some pictures on here soon and will also try to post what's going on in my life.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-50598922619445630852007-06-28T12:46:00.000-07:002007-08-02T19:43:08.721-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RoQQl9hEtaI/AAAAAAAAAHg/fidNekcAd8s/s1600-h/bilde.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RoQQl9hEtaI/AAAAAAAAAHg/fidNekcAd8s/s320/bilde.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5081204523935249826" border="0" /></a>I was looking through some of my pictures to put one on here and found this one. It's a very old one lane bridge, over 100 yrs old. People have to stop when they get to it and see if somebody is already on it and take turns. They're supposed to be building a new one but I guess the estimates are way too high so I don't know if it will happen. The new bridge was supposed to also have a pedestrian bridge underneath to link the Olympic Discovery Trail. There's a beautiful view of the Elwha River from the bridge, even more gorgeous in the Fall.<br /><br />I've been having alot of medical tests but things are looking better. One was from an abnormal mammogram so I had to go in for more pictures and an ultrasound the other day and it turned out it's just multiple cysts. Kind of scared me when they came in and asked me what age my Dad's sister was when she had breast cancer. I also switched from my beloved doctor over in Renton, 3 hrs from here, to a dr in town but I don't like this new one at all so I guess I'm back to trying to find one who's taking new patients and is on our insurance network. I've been driving to Renton for the past 5 years to see my dr but with all the medical stuff that's come up this year it was getting to be too much.<br /><br />Tim is bored to death now that he's on summer vacation. The friends he made from school have been busy so far. He did get invited to a 4th of July party though. We need to find out if the parents will be home, etc and we always shoot off fireworks here and also go into town to watch those but I told him we'd try and work something out. Pat's off work all next week. The kids badly want to do something in the way of a vacation thing. I'm sure Pat will just want to spend the week around home. It makes it even harder because of Thunder's seizures. He went about a month with none and then a week or two ago he had a bad day where he had 3. We raised his Phenobarb dose but the vet says we can't go much higher.<br /><br />Update 8/2/2007<br />The bridge pictured above was closed today, a month earlier than they were going to, because of the bridge accident in Minneapolis. It was scheduled to be torn down next month anyway and then the replacement bridge will be built but will take 2 years to build. I'm glad they decided not to take any chances with it but will miss the beautiful views from it, especially in the Fall.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-23290047852573095872007-06-05T10:26:00.000-07:002007-06-05T11:06:00.959-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RmWdTPJCeaI/AAAAAAAAAHY/iIi6mfA4HnM/s1600-h/Cows-1600x1200.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RmWdTPJCeaI/AAAAAAAAAHY/iIi6mfA4HnM/s320/Cows-1600x1200.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5072633509110249890" border="0" /></a>I didn't really have much in the way of new pictures right now but I like this one that I downloaded from MaryJanes site. My Dad made me a chicken house that I just love, partly because it's just what I wanted and needed but mostly because my Dad made it. I'm going to take a picture of it, should have last week and now it's raining. The Silkies love their new house! I gave the Buttercups the Silkies old house and they love that too.<br /><br />I'm finally getting some medical appts done and found out last week that I have a cyst and had an ultrasound yesterday to see if there's anything else going on. It's weird how unsurprised I was about the cyst. It seems more and more these days that if I just trust my gut feelings I know more than I would have thought. I don't know if that makes sense. I've been so sleep deprived lately. Today is Tim's last day at his Tuesday school and then after school and this evening is a dinner and "project fair" to celebrate their last day. I will miss this school as much as Tim, maybe more. I started him in this one day a week school last September to let him start being around more kids his age after homeschooling him for 6 years and he loved it so much he would count the days and hours till the next Tuesday so I enrolled him in public school for the other 4 days. He has done better than I ever would have dreamed! He even was on the honor roll recently! He still gets help from the special ed teacher in a couple areas and as they say, he processes information slowly but he loves school more than any other 13yr old I've ever met and I always get glowing reports about how hard he tries, etc. We went on a whale watching field trip with the Tuesday school a few weeks ago and had a wonderful time! I'm not crazy about small boats and the water but the water was like glass and it was a sunny day. The next week we went on a field trip to Victoria B.C. with Tim's other school and again, had a blast! The weather couldn't have been better. The view of Port Angeles as we were heading back is breath taking! The end of next week is the last day of school at his regular school. I am going to be loving not setting an alarm clock all summer!!! <br /><br />The dr said I most certainly have asthma and wants me to have a pulmonary work-up so I need to set that up. I have an appt with a regular dr in town next week so I can get referrals to some of these other drs. I fought changing my dr from the one in the south Seattle area but it just needed to be done. Dr Toulouse has been my dr for many years but it's too hard to know a month or more ahead whether I'll be able to make the 3hr drive over there. <br /><br />Other than the medical worries life is good and I find myself thinking very often how blessed I am. All four of my kids seem to be doing well. The weather has been improving and that sure improves my mood.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com167tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-57491610959759718022007-05-12T08:12:00.000-07:002007-05-12T08:17:34.564-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RkXaITMCeBI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/SdmcVdk7MpU/s1600-h/Jimmie___Eddie_Everett.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RkXaITMCeBI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/SdmcVdk7MpU/s320/Jimmie___Eddie_Everett.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5063693192172566546" border="0" /></a>Today is my Mom and Dad's 56th wedding anniversary! They are two very amazing people and I'm so proud of them.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-55195337581875890052007-04-13T07:27:00.000-07:002007-04-13T07:31:35.440-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/Rh-TbBZGwBI/AAAAAAAAAG0/y2C0RcZ8Sm0/s1600-h/Buttercup_rooster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/Rh-TbBZGwBI/AAAAAAAAAG0/y2C0RcZ8Sm0/s320/Buttercup_rooster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5052919399372472338" border="0" /></a>This is a picture of our Buttercup rooster. The farmgirls were talking about the Buttercups and I thought I'd show a picture of mine to show what the hen and rooster look like. The hen is in the picture behind the rooster. The rooster is more colorful than the hen. They're nice chickens as long as it's just the 2 of them. The hen gets pretty mean if any of the other chickens are let into their area. She doesn't seem to want to sit on any eggs so I thought I'd see if one of the Silkie hens would like to sit on them.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-56358306044677326912007-03-29T17:44:00.000-07:002007-03-29T18:02:54.091-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RgxeY1uBPHI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/35_7moHM2Rc/s1600-h/buck2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RgxeY1uBPHI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/35_7moHM2Rc/s320/buck2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5047513063205452914" border="0" /></a>Here's a picture of part of the side porch. Behind me in the picture is the porch swing. As you look towards the woods you can see a deer.<br /><br />I haven't posted in a week. Pat worked the weekend but came home Saturday night. Tim went to school Monday but came home with a fever and has been sick with this cold/flu thing again all week. Stephen has had a bad cold but was getting better but he's been pretty sick today with the same thing, this cold/flu. I'm pretty much better except that I still have the cough so it seems like every minute of the day one of us is coughing. When I've had some time 'I've been reading I know this much is true' which my dad loaned me a few years ago and I never did read until I was doing a bunch of cleaning out recently and found it.<br /><br />The weather has been somewhat nice the last couple days, at least for here, it's warmer in Seattle. I really kind of wasted the nice weather though. Oh well, this is the start of Spring, I'm sure there will be many nice days. The chickens sure look better! They've been able to take their dirt baths (I'll never understand that) and they don't look so awful like they did when it rained constantly. <br /><br />Next week Tim will have Spring break. I'm going to Seattle at the least for Tuesday night to make very sure I make my drs appt on Wednesday. Not sure what I'm doing beyond that but I'm going to try and get over to the Puget Sound area early enough on Tuesday to spend some time at Country Village, one of my favorite places.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-53337806192696622552007-03-22T16:23:00.000-07:002007-03-22T16:36:34.015-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RgMQLj01qwI/AAAAAAAAAGI/b0cQ2cnuV3o/s1600-h/Cheryl_and_Missy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RgMQLj01qwI/AAAAAAAAAGI/b0cQ2cnuV3o/s320/Cheryl_and_Missy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5044893798366554882" border="0" /></a>Here's a picture of me with Missy when we first got her a couple summers ago. I was going through some pictures today and found this one. Sure do miss when my porch looked like that, or at the very least to even be able to sit out on the steps without freezing!<br /><br />I'm on my 2nd round of antibiotics but I do feel like I'm starting to get better. I had a little more energy this afternoon, good thing because there are alot of things that haven't been getting done.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-12381679964440454522007-03-22T16:09:00.000-07:002007-03-23T06:30:49.879-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RgMNKz01qvI/AAAAAAAAAGA/uRMHLPhck_4/s1600-h/100_0349.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RgMNKz01qvI/AAAAAAAAAGA/uRMHLPhck_4/s320/100_0349.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5044890486946769650" border="0" /></a>Here's the Amish sampler I was talking about. It's actually just the pattern, no thread or material. The picture isn't real clear, or maybe it's my eyes, but it says "Walk Humbly With Thy God". Mikki Jo has said she'd like it so Mikki, if you'd email me your address I'll send it to you. I also have the recipe for Amish Butter Cookies. I don't know where I got the recipe, I've had it for years, almost thinking I got it from my older sister, Charlotte. Here's the recipe:<br /><br />1 cup butter or margarine, softened<br />1 cup oil<br />4 1/2 cups flour<br />1 cup sugar<br /> 1 cup powdered sugar<br /> 2 eggs<br /> 1 teaspoon vanilla<br /> 1 teaspoon baking soda<br /> 1 teaspoon cream of tartar<br />Beat butter and oil together on low speed. Add flour, sugar, powdered sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Drop by spoonsfull onto a lightly greased cookie sheet (I actually don't grease the cookie sheet but that's up to whoever is making these). Bake at 350 for 11-12 minutes or very light brown. (With my oven it takes a little longer and I always take them out when the edges just begin to get brown).Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-76770080958350947002007-03-15T17:05:00.000-07:002007-03-15T17:13:31.515-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfnffPUEs1I/AAAAAAAAAF4/1m_LGB7uzE0/s1600-h/site.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfnffPUEs1I/AAAAAAAAAF4/1m_LGB7uzE0/s320/site.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5042306985597645650" border="0" /></a>We have a family website on MyFamily.com that my dad and all my brothers and sisters and my son and his wife check in on and/or post something everyday. When it's someone's birthday we post a picture of them on the cover picture of the site, usually a baby picture. On Monday it was my grandson, Joey's, 9th birthday and his Mom, Melissa, posted this baby picture of Joey. I took care of him from when he was a little baby until he was about 1 1/2 when Melissa was working and so got to spend alot of time with him. Seeing his baby picture makes me miss him so much!!! I miss when he was a baby and I just miss him anyway since him and his brother, Aaron, and his Mom went to live in Savannah, Georgia where my son Shane is stationed in the Army.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-48033997270548779022007-03-15T16:49:00.000-07:002007-03-15T16:58:18.237-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfncLfUEs0I/AAAAAAAAAFw/b3LpfCsH1cM/s1600-h/This_was_our_field.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfncLfUEs0I/AAAAAAAAAFw/b3LpfCsH1cM/s320/This_was_our_field.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5042303347760345922" border="0" /></a><br />On the farmgirl site we were talking about what we would do if we could do anything we wanted and whether or how it would impact someone else's life and I had mentioned that I had thought many times how it would be nice if I could have space here for like a community garden for people in town who didn't have room for a garden or for the food bank. This picture is from 2 yrs ago when we had alot of clearing done on the property and this was the area that I was thinking of for the garden. I've heard that the woman who lived here before had beautiful gardens here and the man who did our clearing said that the soil was real good in this area. There is grass and weeds that have grown there now and alot of those trees on the left fell down in the windstorms this past winter but nothing that can't be cleaned up pretty quickly. I kind of wonder whether this is a do-able idea. The only thing is that we share a well and driveway with the neighbor but maybe it can be worked out. I've seen community gardens before in other areas and people always took pride in taking care of them. I don't know, maybe I've had too much caffeine (or cough syrup) today but it's a thought.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-71254227261109904412007-03-15T13:29:00.000-07:002007-03-15T14:13:18.584-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfmzafUEszI/AAAAAAAAAFo/3of7YtfmZfs/s1600-h/Black_Silkie3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfmzafUEszI/AAAAAAAAAFo/3of7YtfmZfs/s320/Black_Silkie3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5042258525481644850" border="0" /></a>Here's one of our Silkies, one of the roosters I think, when it was younger. We found one of the Silkie roosters dead today in their yard. Very sad. It didn't look like anything got in there. Stephen said he heard them fighting last night but they do sometimes so he didn't think much of it but that must have been when it happened. I really think they've gotten along pretty well and haven't seen much fighting at all or I would have found homes for a couple of the roosters. I gave one of the Silkie roosters to my dad recently but my dad's 3 hens are being mean to the rooster so my dad asked me to take one of the Silkie hens over there to keep the rooster company and maybe hatch some eggs. Those Silkie hens sure do like setting on eggs so I bet that will work out good. I've been wanting to go over and see Mom and Dad anyway, if I could ever get over this cold thing! <br /><br />We got a progress report for Tim today and it was great! Three of his teachers mentioned him working slowly but he does process information slowly. I'm hoping that as he goes to school that it will get easier for him to process information faster. Other than that he got all positive comments like "Exlemplary conduct" and "Pleasant and conscientious student". I hope the rest of his school years go as well as this year is going for him. I went back to sleep for a couple hours this morning and now it's time to get ready and pick Tim up already. I feel like I haven't gotten much done at all today but until I'm over this bug I'd better take it easy.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-59154953185401741192007-03-15T08:03:00.000-07:002007-03-15T08:22:42.525-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RflhD_UEsyI/AAAAAAAAAFg/bosMeu5hPmk/s1600-h/100_0347.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RflhD_UEsyI/AAAAAAAAAFg/bosMeu5hPmk/s320/100_0347.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5042167978981110562" border="0" /></a>A sign of Spring... There are a few crocus' around the big cedar tree next to the driveway. I love things like that, gives you hope when it's still so cold out that it will be warm again soon. Yesterday there was actually a little snow on the deck in the morning! Today after I took Tim to his bus I noticed there was fresh snow in the lower hills around. Very pretty! It's hard for me to get used to getting up so early but the early mornings can be so beautiful and lately I've noticed more and more animal sounds in the distance. I just hope the woodpeckers don't come back this year. I think it was about 2 yrs ago that we had an awful problem with the woodpeckers on the gutters of the house, especially right over my bedroom window. I read up on getting rid of them and it sounded like the woodpeckers have more rights than we do! We did hang alot of shiny things on the house and it seemed to help a little.<br /><br />I've still got this cough pretty bad but the dr said on Saturday that he didn't think it was pneumonia. He did put me on antibiotics though for the sinus infection. Last night I went to sleep at 11:30 or so and woke up about 2, had to take some cough medicine and it still took me awhile to go back to sleep, got to sleep all the way till 6am! Yesterday morning I ended up sleeping in because I had set the alarm to 6pm! That hopefully will teach me to wear my glasses when I set the alarm. Speaking of sleep, I will feed the dogs and then hopefully go back to sleep for awhile. I set up my cutting table so I could cut out more of the cotton batting for the rag quilts I'm making and I would love to work on that but if I don't get some sleep I'll just be a zombie all day.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-6783154975912494592007-03-12T18:04:00.000-07:002007-03-12T18:13:41.627-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfX5g_UEswI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/oHYaJK9_qkg/s1600-h/trip+to+Shane+2+038.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfX5g_UEswI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/oHYaJK9_qkg/s320/trip+to+Shane+2+038.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5041209703057896194" border="0" /></a>There is a long, thin piece of land that goes out from Port Angeles. At the end is a Coast Guard Station but all along this piece of land before that is places where you can park along there and look out either towards town like this picture where the Olympic Mountains tower over the town or turn the other way and look across the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Victoria B.C. (British Columbia). We love to go to this piece of land, called Ediz Hook, during the summer and watch the sunsets or sometimes I just go there and relax. On 4th of July we usually park along Ediz Hook along with many other people and watch the fireworks over the town.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-25170689912854059962007-03-09T17:14:00.000-08:002007-03-09T17:20:27.332-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfIGzPUEsvI/AAAAAAAAAFI/CoCUWfue4VY/s1600-h/100_0346.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfIGzPUEsvI/AAAAAAAAAFI/CoCUWfue4VY/s320/100_0346.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5040098410334827250" border="0" /></a>These are some of the patriotic flannel squares that I'm using to make my next rag quilts. I really like the one that's 2nd from the left, the freedom bears. I have collected alot of patriotic flannel and am just making as many squares as I can and will make as many quilts out of it as I can, hopefully enough for each of my kids and one for cuddling up on the couch. I should have put these on a plain background. They're on the kitchen table which has a laminated US map taped to it. We also have a big laminated world map that we sometimes put on the table, especially when Shane was stationed in South Korea but now he's in Georgia.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-35881261193800995092007-03-09T16:40:00.000-08:002007-03-09T17:23:20.192-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfH-nvUEsuI/AAAAAAAAAFA/e2hMMmWKgC0/s1600-h/Quilt.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RfH-nvUEsuI/AAAAAAAAAFA/e2hMMmWKgC0/s320/Quilt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5040089416673309410" border="0" /></a>This is a rag quilt that I made for my nephew in Michigan when he had major back surgery a couple years ago. I've got alot of patriotic themed flannel squares cut out, some sewn, some not yet, and would love to get the energy to work on more patriotic rag quilts. Doesn't seem like that big a deal when you think about it but this cold or whatever I have has drained every ounce of energy I have. I want to make one of these for each of the boys and one to cuddle up with on these cold nights. I don't have the couch shown, I have a dark blue sleeper sofa. I have alot of cute patriotic flannels, took a picture of a few of the squares but I need to find the cord to upload the picture onto here. I also am in the mood to start working on a grandmothers flower garden quilt I started long ago, something I could bring with me to Tim's Tuesday school. He starts the 3rd trimester this next Tuesday, one cooking class and then 5 computer classes so we'll be there 6 1/2 hrs instead of 5 1/2. I tried to talk him into starting classes at 10 instead of 9 but he wants the whole day so....<br /><br />I have so many things I'd like to work on and am so sick of laying around this past week! It reminds me of when I was on bedrest almost my whole pregnancy with Stephen and I was bored out of my mind! I did manage to get on the treadmill last night for a whole 15 minutes, better than nothing I guess. Drs appt on Monday so I'll try to hold out till then to ask why I can't seem to kick this. What worries me is that I had a bad case of pneumonia in my late 20's and now I'm I tad bit older than that and I have this awful cough. Laid around today watching tear-jerker movies like Sleepless in Seattle and The Other Sister. Finally brought the laptop back down to the kitchen just to get myself out of that bed. It's almost 5pm and I'm going to get Stephen to help me try and get the tarp back on this old Suburban that's sticking out of the carport and since the back window is open it's getting rained in and I guess we're in for some stormy weather this weekend. Pat's coming home for the night tonight and then going back to Seattle tomorrow and working the weekend. I was going to go over there this weekend but just don't feel up to it.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-1151439818110648852007-03-07T20:51:00.000-08:002007-03-07T20:58:55.577-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2427/3167/1600/Pat_and_Cheryl.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2427/3167/320/Pat_and_Cheryl.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This picture is of Pat and I. We were on vacation in Michigan in summer of 05 visiting all his family. I actually posted this last summer when I started this blog, was trying to repost it, surprised that it worked. I'm not much different than this except that I gained 10 to 15lbs since then and can't seem to get that off. It probably doesn't help that I have some girl scout cookies sitting here that I can't stay out of. I didn't bring myself any lunch when I went to spend the day at Tim's school yesterday and so when I saw that somebody was selling off the rest of their girl scout cookies I bought 3 boxes! What can I say, I was weak. When I'm sick it's my time to baby myself. Now that Stephen knows about these cookies they won't be here for long. I have a drs appt next Monday, I wonder if I can lose the 10 to 15lbs by then???Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-46530029101163779212007-03-07T13:37:00.000-08:002007-03-07T13:46:14.255-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/Re8xBo6VhDI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/q1wIpSeCzrA/s1600-h/100_0341.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/Re8xBo6VhDI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/q1wIpSeCzrA/s320/100_0341.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039300412282602546" border="0" /></a>One of our windstorms this winter snapped this old apple tree right off, just hanging by a thread now. I want to go outside and cut up all these trees that fell but I feel so rotten still, besides I got out my chainsaw a day or two ago and it needs oil. From the looks of it I have a feeling Pat took it over to where he stays and used it a bunch. This was my favorite of our fruit trees, such a shame. It was sure a rough winter. It's been sunny out for a few hours today and I'm loving it but I took my last Actifed a bit ago and have a feeling I'll be heading for a nap soon.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-64618493338966868012007-03-07T12:39:00.000-08:002007-03-07T12:54:14.592-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/Re8jsY6VhCI/AAAAAAAAAEI/fwqGmXFUamk/s1600-h/100_0339.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/Re8jsY6VhCI/AAAAAAAAAEI/fwqGmXFUamk/s320/100_0339.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039285753559221282" border="0" /></a>Can it really be almost Spring?? I have daffodils coming up in places where I swear there were none last year but I'm sure I say that every year.<br /><br />It's been really nice out for a couple days then back to rain last night but awhile ago this morning it's sunny again! I'd love to walk up to Tim's bus stop but my cold is still horrible. I took a few more pictures outside when I ventured outside a bit ago, will post more soon. I need to take more Actifed but it knocks me out. What a waste of a beautiful day!Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-46847071635771804942007-03-04T19:00:00.000-08:002007-03-04T19:04:36.748-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/ReuIG3jRjsI/AAAAAAAAAEA/Ozi5p9OMdnE/s1600-h/100_0334.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/ReuIG3jRjsI/AAAAAAAAAEA/Ozi5p9OMdnE/s320/100_0334.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5038270259716525762" border="0" /></a>Here's a more close-up view of the tea towel that Aunt Jenny sent me. It is so cute!! There is another picture of it that I just posted but it wasn't a very good close-up. It meant so much to me for her to send me this!!!Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-51902293962590649142007-03-04T18:49:00.000-08:002007-03-04T18:57:10.221-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/ReuFfHjRjrI/AAAAAAAAAD4/rqAtxKdS7As/s1600-h/100_0332.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/ReuFfHjRjrI/AAAAAAAAAD4/rqAtxKdS7As/s320/100_0332.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5038267377793470130" border="0" /></a>I don't think this is the greatest picture of it but here is my 3rd apron I made. The other 2 are more country with roosters, etc but this one seemed more Spring-like with apples, etc. Well, I guess now that I think about it apples would be for Fall but with the colors it reminds me of Spring. Next to it is the most adorable tea towel that I got in the mail yesterday from Aunt Jenny. I need to take a more close-up picture in a sec and post it. It meant so much to me that she sent that and it was tied up with a piece of lace and smelled so good!! My kids and husband aren't very nurturing and it means so much to me to get something "from the heart" and also on a day when I was feeling so rotten! Jenny, you are just the sweetest!!!Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-41889120079521724432007-03-03T07:12:00.000-08:002007-03-03T07:27:21.939-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RemRAWdPYhI/AAAAAAAAADk/MLvq9Hv0NEk/s1600-h/angel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RemRAWdPYhI/AAAAAAAAADk/MLvq9Hv0NEk/s320/angel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5037717093404860946" border="0" /></a>This was one of those days of seeing something in the clouds. It looked like an angel to me. It's nice to think we have guardian angels with us. I think I'm a little delirious today, combination of this severe virus and lack of sleep. I talked to Pat last night till almost 12:30am, thinking I didn't have to set an alarm for a change and could sleep in.... wrong!! I woke up at 6am from my head hurting and my raw throat. I'm sort of known for my loud sneezes "for a girl" but not much louder than a squeak today. I had to laugh at myself this morning when I sneezed. Where the heck did I pick this up at? Last weekend there was a home show in town that I wanted to go to but I heard about the bad flu going around and decided it would be better to stay home. I guess not. Neither dog has even wanted to wake up yet but I'd better take them out anyway and go lay back down and hopefully sleep this off. Can't wait till this peaks!!Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671786.post-20331708542571529372007-03-02T22:38:00.000-08:002007-03-02T22:53:50.326-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RekZYmdPYgI/AAAAAAAAADY/3afjtexwz_E/s1600-h/thunderinblanket.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_KVv4aLKqV1Q/RekZYmdPYgI/AAAAAAAAADY/3afjtexwz_E/s320/thunderinblanket.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5037585568621355522" border="0" /></a>I took Thunder to the vet today and really don't know any more than I did. She ran blood tests which I thought would show something but it all came back ok. She also did an EKG, for some reason she thought this might involve his heart but it came out ok. I walked out of there with $170 less... ouch!! She said if he has a brain tumor then the seizures will get worse and then we could take him to Seattle to a specialist. I sure hope it doesn't come to that. I don't want to think we have to choose between a badly needed new roof or medical care for our dog. She said sometimes a dog will have a seizure and then never have one again. Hopefully that is the case. As for me I can barely talk now. I called Pat awhile ago and he kept laughing at me, didn't help at all!!! Looks like he's working the weekend. He was going to come home for a night but he's leary of being around me and I don't blame him at all. I was going to go to bed early and read and sleep but I built a fire in the woodstove and have been watching King of Queens dvds. Nothing like a good comedy to take your mind off your troubles.Cherylhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14329345036513296108noreply@blogger.com0